Area transgender HS student says he was not allowed to serve on prom king court

VANDALIA — A family said their transgender son is being discriminated against.

They claim the school district told them he was not allowed to serve on the Butler High Schools’ prom king court due to a “long-standing policy”.

While the district claims they had legitimate concerns over the voting process.

In a letter from the student’s lawyer requested by News Center 7, the family said their transgender son had been voted onto the original prom king court at Butler High School.

“His father was later informed... by the superintendent Rob O’Leary someone ‘born female’ is not allowed to serve on the prom king court,” the letter reads.

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The family lawyer also claimed that last-minute additions to the prom court that the district said did not allow for time for a vote were in response to O’Leary, “learning that a transgender male had been placed on the prom court king list, which violated his own personal religious beliefs,” according to the letter.

News Center 7′s John Bedell reached out to the district for comment in response to the letter. A district spokesperson provided the following statement in part :

“The letter from Ms. Ford includes misrepresentations and implications based upon misguided assumptions.  The district disagrees with the letter’s implications and conclusions.  The district will not comment further based upon student privacy rights and apparent potential litigation.”

“We live here because of the school system here, so I think they do a very good job,” Lori Henson of Butler Township said.

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Henson said people in the Vandalia and Butler Township communities have been talking about it for the past few days.

“I would think that as many times as prom court has been elected they would be able to do the voting in a way that would reflect what the students wanted,” Henson said.

The student’s lawyer said they will pursue a Title IX complaint against the district, he said a lawsuit is not “in their immediate plans.”

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